THRONE//FRINGE: Normal Human Mech-Girl Quest

[Fayhem]

Also, talking about trying to "explain the dysfunctionality of the empire" bugs me a lot because the Empire was intended to be weird and alien and uncomfortable but not to project dysfunctionality, and when people say things like this it makes me wonder what part of the worldbuilding I fucked up.

Click to shrink...

As some other people have touched on, I think it's the normative disconnect that makes people say that more than the Empire seeming to not "work" on the level the Empire believes is valuable. I believe the Empire was highly functional at serving and propagating its own values for a very long time, but those values (or at least the way they play out in practice) appear to be mainly a mix of Latest Stage Capitalism and existential horror. Which provokes instinctive revulsion in me and seemingly a lot of other questers here.

Put another way, the Empire feels very instrumentally functional, but very dysfunctional on the axiomatic level. And given the context of the current quest, I do use the term "axiomatic" advisedly.😉

 

[Cetashwayo]

So a thought just hit me. Since this dream is presumably a real memory of Arachne alpha does this mean we now know what Ishtar's face looks like? And can thus restore it to her later?

Click to shrink...

It is a potential piece of the puzzle, certainly.

 

[Crimson Alchemis]

Also, talking about trying to "explain the dysfunctionality of the empire" bugs me a lot because the Empire was intended to be weird and alien and uncomfortable but not to project dysfunctionality, and when people say things like this it makes me wonder what part of the worldbuilding I fucked up.

Click to shrink...

The Empire was functional until it wasn't, which is evidenced in its destruction. When the Empire existed, it functioned. Was it universally pleasant and just? No, not when the polity is based around dynamic competition as a mechanism to stave off entropy.

Btw, "dynamic competition as a mechanism to stave off entropy"? While it has horrifying implications, is a pretty elegant solution to fighting and ending entropy.

 

[Ciber]

Depends how your counting.
It does compare favorably to certain W.O.R.M.s I'm familiar with.

 

[10ebbor10]

On that note, another thought.

Arachne Alpha being in Arachne's brain is kinda obvious, and we have a good explanation for Ishtar. But how do people think Diana and IX-CHEL ended up there?

 

[Zfglx]

On that note, another thought.

Arachne Alpha being in Arachne's brain is kinda obvious, and we have a good explanation for Ishtar. But how do people think Diana and IX-CHEL ended up there?

Click to shrink...

Maybe Arachne ate them when on a rampage through the sector with the celestial nail.

Looking back at the beginning, the memory fragment we got was simply whose body we stole at the end of the rampage. There is nothing to say we didn't eat the others, or even that Ishtar didn't absorb them during the conflict of the collapse.